Operational and Laboratory Tests of Flow Measurement of Gear Hydrogenerator

The subject of this scientific work was the measurement of flow from a gear hydrogenerator under laboratory and operational conditions depending on pressure and temperature. The measurement methodology shows the possibilities to measure and subsequently evaluate the dependence of flow rate on pressure drop and also the efficiency of the hydrogenerator. Operational measurement provides the basis for simulation measurements in laboratory conditions. A hydraulic circuit was constructed to test the load of the gear hydrogenerator under operating conditions, with the decisive criterion being the achievement of the specified flow rate at a specified speed derived from the operating speed. When measuring the flow rate and determining the flow efficiency of the gear pump, the operating pressure of the pumps was taken into account along with load simulation in laboratory conditions. The measurements were carried out on HYDAC 3010 devices with HYDAC EVS 3100 flow meters, where the operating temperature of the working fluid ranged from 40 °C to 65 °C and the loading of the hydrogenerator under operating conditions was carried out using the OWATONNA device. In laboratory conditions, the most important static characteristics of a double-toothed HG, built into a test stand unit, where a measuring chain was provided on the designed measuring circuit, were measured and evaluated. In order to determine the functionality and operational reliability of the hydrogenerator, flow parameters were determined in this case and the efficiency of the HG flow was evaluated.